Sinister Love
by ForeverDarkRider
Summary: Rei leaves without telling anyone after getting a mysterious phone call. No one hears from him for two years when he suddenly comes back, completely changed, and not for the better! Shonen-ai! KaiRei
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's note:_ This is my first fanfic, so please be kind to me. I have been reading a lot of Beyblade fanfics, and I loved them, but they never ended like I wanted them to (duh) so I decided to make one of my own that _did _end the way I wanted it. This is the only chapter that I have written so far, so if you like it, please review and tell me if you want another chapter. I have some ideas for it, but I will only write it if I get a certain amount of reviews, so please, _please_ R/R! Oh, and no flamers, although if I do get some I will just laugh at you. Yes, it is funny to me. **

**_Warnings:_ OOCness, rape, torture, shonen-ai! Don't like, don't read!**

**_Summary: _Rei has a dark past that no one knows about. He has never shared his past. No one knows why, but they're going to find out. (SORRY! I know, I know, bad summary but it's my first one so be kind!) Oh, btw, everyone's about 17 years old (before the flashback) and they all live together in a flat that Kai pays for (cuz he's rich! ^ ^). Aaand what else? Oh yeah! If I don't give a location for a scene, then it's still in the same location as when I last posted where it was taking place. Okay? Okay. Oh, and they live in Japan.**

**_Disclaimer: _(Okay, so I was told by a friend that I had to do this, so! Here we go…) I do not own Beyblade, nor the characters in Beyblade, so don't sue me. I am borrowing them, even though I would love to own them. Then Kai and Rei would have been all over each other the moment they met. So, there. In other words, _I OWN NOTHING!_ **

**Chapter One**

**Bladebreakers' flat**

Kai sighed. Things hadn't been the same since Rei up and left to go back to China two years ago. Kai still didn't understand how it had happened. Things had been going so well; the Bladebreakers were famous, Max and Tyson finally admitted their love for each other, Mariah had stopped chasing after Rei like a dog in heat (much to Kai's relief; he no longer had a reason to be jealous), and Kai was finally going to admit to the neko-jin how he felt about him. He had just decided that he would finally tell Rei that he loved him. He may seem cold on the outside but he was still human, he still had emotions. And he loved Rei. But Rei had left. He never told the others why, he just up and left two hours after he got a phone call from some unknown person…

_**Flashback**_

Kai sat in the chair across from the couch that Rei was sitting on and watched him out of the corner of his eye (like he usually did), studying his lithe form. He wanted to tell the neko-jin how he felt, but couldn't find the right time to do it, so he just sat there, studying him as he waited for his chance. As always, the neko-jin was stunning. His tall form and his toned physique defined by his tanned skin made him stand out from the rest. His golden cat-like eyes just added to the effect, along with his pointed ears and canines. His long, gorgeous black hair came down past his waist when left down. Now it was braided up so that it came to just above the middle of his back. His sleeve-less, red Chinese shirt with the black tie around the waist, loose black pants, black shoes (the ones he always wore), and his red bandanna with the yin-yang white tiger on it only made him look more appealing. They suited him perfectly.

Kai studied him intently as Rei listened closely to Kenny, Tyson, and Max as they sat on the floor between him and Kai and told each other about their child-hoods. He noticed that Rei always acted peculiar when someone mentioned about their pasts, and when confronted about his, he always managed to change the subject quite smoothly without anyone even taking notice to what he was doing. Kai found that odd. Every one was so open about their pasts, that is, everyone but Rei. Kai didn't go around parading about his past in the abbey, but when asked, he would at least answer. He didn't like to, but he found it was necessary since the others had told him what their lives had been like before they became the Bladebreakers. Rei was different though. He never said anything about his past even when asked. No one other that the White Tigers knew anything about him before he joined with the Bladebreakers and it didn't look like anyone would be finding anything out about him anytime soon.

Kai looked at Rei more closely. The neko-jin had a very dark look on his face, one that Kai had never seen on him before. Rei was always so sweet and kind to everyone. It was odd, and it didn't suit him to look so sinister.

"So anyway, when I ate all that sugar and got stuck in a tree, my mom had to call the fire department to get me down!" Max laughed at his own story while the other two were in tears from laughing so much.

Tyson turned to Rei. "Oh man, isn't the funniest thing you've ever heard, Re- -" Tyson stopped when he saw the look on Rei's face. "R-Rei?" At hearing the stutter in Tyson's voice, everyone turned to look at Rei and froze. Rei was frowning and staring into space with such a bloodthirsty look in his eyes that it gave everyone chills, including Kai even though he would never admit it. When Rei noticed that everyone had been staring at him in fear, curiosity, and wonder for a while now, he banished the look from his face. He plastered on a fake smile that must have been convincing, for everyone had relaxed and hesitant smiles flicked across their faces. The only one who was not fooled by his act was Kai, although he didn't say anything.

"What?" Rei asked, feigning innocence.

"What were you thinking about that you had such a scary look on your face?" Kenny piped up before anyone else could even take a breath to say anything.

Rei carefully put a blank look on his face. He hadn't meant to make any faces while thinking about his own past, but he got so caught up in it that it was as if he was back there in that dark, dank basement. _His wrists were tied above his head and he tried to wriggle free of them. The man standing over him saw this and smiled sinisterly. He thought it was funny seeing the little kitten writhe in pain and wanted to cause him more. Rei tried not to cringe or cry out as the whip bit into his bare flesh over and over again, not wanting to give the man the satisfaction of knowing that he was hurting him. He looked up just before the next blow and looked into eyes that mirrored his own hatred. He would never forgive him. He would never forgive…_

A gasp caught his attention. Apparently he was making faces again while he was caught in those dark memories because Max was hiding behind Tyson, who was whimpering and Kenny was sitting there looking scared and lost as to what was making his friend look so scary. Rei looked over to Kai. Kai looked shocked and confused for a moment before he realized that Rei was looking at him and his eyes hooded over, blocking the emotions out, the cold façade back in place. Rei looked down at his hands that were entwined in his lap. "What?" he asked.

No one spoke for a moment before Kai asked the question that was on everyone's minds. "What's wrong? You're not acting like your usual self." Everyone nodded in agreement at Kai's words and Rei just shrugged, his head still down, seemingly very interested in his hands.

"I-" He was interrupted by the ringing of the phone before he could say anymore and sighed in relief. 'Saved by the phone' he thought. "I'll get it." He got up to answer the phone, all eyes on him. They were all thinking the same thing as they watched Rei answer the phone-_he wasn't avoiding the subject this time. They would get to the bottom of their friend's strange behavior._

Rei picked up the phone and answered it with a short 'Hello?' and stiffened when he heard the maniacal laugh. "Reeeeiiiii," came the sinister singsong voice on the other end of the phone. "It's time to plaaaaay." It said again.

Rei's mind careened. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to alert his friends to the fact that something was wrong, he didn't want them involved in his problems. He took a deep breath and said as calmly as he could, "What is it…Dad?"


	2. Chapter 2

**_Author's note: _Obviously I got enough reviews for me to make another chapter, so arigato! And here you go! Oh, and a special thanks to neko-girl16, Platinum Rei, Suzanne, Kitty Kat K.O, Kiki Ling, and xHitsulover for the awesome reviews and/or the story alert! Thank you sooo much! I posted this story especially for you guys! I hope you like it!**

**_Disclaimer: __I OWN NOTHING OF BEYBLADE! _(Except the story of course)**

**Chapter Two**

"I want you to come home, Rei." Rei' s father said sinisterly, sending chills down his back. He tried to cover his visible shaking by wrapping his arms around himself and pretending he was cold so the others wouldn't get suspicious. They were still watching him for strange behavior. "We used to have so much fun!" He then laughed so gleefully at the neko-jin's expense that Rei thought he might faint. He moved to sit on the couch he had just vacated and slumped down.

"Why now?" He asked, glad to find that his voice was not quavering. His friends were already suspicious enough; he didn't want them to see his fear. They were watching him so intently that they would be able to pick up any sign of fear or other emotion in his voice or on his face. He didn't want them to pry. If they did, he would probably tell them everything, and he couldn't do that. Not that he didn't trust them, but he as afraid of rejection. What if they thought he was disgusting? Contaminated? Dirty? He had been beaten, raped, and abused by his father so many times that it became a natural occurrence to him. He no longer put much thought into what his father did to him. What if they thought he was abnormal and didn't want to be around him anymore? The only way he can cope with his past was when he was with his friends. They helped him in so many ways without even realizing it. That wasn't the only reason he wouldn't tell them though. He didn't want them to have to carry around the burden of his past for the rest of their lives. Max, Tyson, and Kenny would probably break down crying (if they didn't cringe away from him in disgust first) and Kai, Kai he didn't know. He was so unpredictable and he hid his emotions so well. He was a mystery, one that Rei longed to solve, but didn't, out of guilt. If he didn't allow others to see who he really was, why should he strive to find out who others really are?

Rei was jolted out of his thoughts when his father answered his earlier question. "I have waited long enough for you to come home. If you don't come home, I will come and get you. You don't want that, do you? You haven't told your friends about me, have you?" He laughed. "Of coarse not! You're too much of a coward! Just think, I could come and get you. Then you wouldn't have to worry about it." He pauses. "Or I could just get rid of them and you would come crawling back to me, defeated, alone, and guilt-ridden." Rei could hear the smile in his father's voice and knew that he would take sick enjoyment in torturing and killing his friends if it meant hurting Rei. Rei had always wished death upon himself when he was still living with his father. Of coarse, his father would never allow the sweet essence of death to envelop him, oh no. He wanted Rei to suffer. Rei may have wished death upon himself many times, but he would never wish it on any of his friends. They were too precious to him, and they didn't deserve it; they were better than that.

'Besides, I deserve the pain.' Rei thought grimly to himself. 'After what I did to them…' "No. You don't have to come all the way out here." Rei said to his father, putting on a fake smile for his friends. 'They must never know about this. I will protect them from my father!' Rei silently vowed to himself. "I'll see you in a little while, okay?"

Rei could hear the smile in his father's voice as he gave a short 'Good' making Rei cringe inwardly as to what was to come. "Bye." He hung up without waiting for an answer. He would have hung up earlier if he weren't trying to keep up the pretense of having a perfectly normal and pleasant conversation.

Rei looked up to find four sets of curious eyes upon him, silently asking the question he dreaded. Kai was, again, the first one to ask it. "Who was that?"

"An old friend." He answered simply. He knew they wanted to ask more questions, but before they could, he stood up, muttered a quick 'Bathroom' and stalked off up the steps, feeling his friends' eyes burning into his back until he was out of sight. Instead of heading to the bathroom though, he headed towards his room to pack his things.

…

Downstairs, the other four exchanged worried glances. Max was the first one to break the silence. "Rei was acting strange wasn't he?" The other three nodded in agreement, all of them lost in thought.

"Maybe we should leave him alone for now so he can sort things out and check on him after we eat?" Tyson's stomach growled in agreement.

Max groaned. "You always thing about food first, everything else later!"

"I do not! I just don't think well on an empty stomach!" Kai tuned the two lovers out as he thought about the look on Rei's face when he first answered the phone. He hadn't looked happy and obviously hadn't meant to show it. He had quickly put on an emotionless expression and purposely pasted a smile on for them to try and convince them that everything was all right. Everything was not all right though, and he was sure that he wasn't the only one who noticed it. Tyson turned to Kai and forced him out of his thoughts. "Who's right, me or Max?"

"Hn." Was Kai's only response as he stalked off towards the kitchen.

"See! He thinks food is a good idea too!"

"Yeah but not for you. It's for Rei." Kai replied as he searched the cupboards for something for Rei to eat. Maybe he could make him some onigiris to cheer him up?

…

Forty-five minutes later Rei had finished packing and scribbled a note down on a piece of paper to his friends.

_Went back to China. Won't be back._

_Goodbye,_

_Rei_

Rei looked at the note he had written. It was harsh and would probably cause a lot of pain for some of them. Kai wouldn't be hurt though. He would probably just be mad and beat the daylights out of him the next time they saw each other. Tyson might never forgive him, Max would probably be confused, and Kenny would probably cry and blame himself. Rei felt bad about leaving like this, but it was the only way to protect them. If he left a friendly note, they would try to visit him and they would either discover his secret or they would get hurt. Or both. Rei shivered. He could not, would not allow that. This was the only way to protect them, so that's what he'll do. He walked silently over to the window and opened it, looking down at the ground below. He was on the third floor, but he could jump. He was a neko-jin after all, and cats always land on their feet. He lifted his backpack, full of his clothes, and dropped it out the window. He took one last look at his beyblade, which he had left on his bed. He longed to take it with him, but his father would just break it, so he took Driger, his bit-beast, and placed it in a hidden pocket in his book bag where his father wouldn't find it. At least he wouldn't have to leave him behind. He didn't know what he would do without Driger's comfort. With that, he turned and jumped out the window after his book bag into the alley below. He scooped up his bag and took off running to the nearest airport, not looking back even once…

…

Kai walked up the steps with the platter of onigiris in his hand. It had taken longer than he thought it would to make them since Tyson kept stealing them. After getting fed up with him, Kai had given him a bag of chips and locked him in the bathroom with them so he would leave him alone. He was seriously considering leaving him in there all night bud decided against it since it was the only full sized bathroom. Smiling slightly to himself, he knocked on Rei's door. After getting no answer, he knocked louder, this time calling out a soft 'Rei?' before opening the door. Kai walked in and didn't see Rei so he set the platter down on a nearby nightstand and stepped back into the hallway. 'Maybe he's still in the bathroom' he thought to himself. He walked to the bathroom door but noticed it was ajar. He stepped into the small half bathroom and, sure that Rei wasn't in there, walked back towards Rei's room. "Where could he be?" he mumbled aloud to himself. He took one last look around the room and noticed a small piece of paper on the bed next to Rei's beyblade. Picking it up, he read it to himself. He was shocked. Rei had gone back to China. Had they done something to make him upset? Was it his fault? Rei hadn't sounded very happy in his letter. Kai picked up Rei's beyblade and noticed that the bit-beast was gone, meaning that he really wasn't going to be back. Kai was devastated and could only imagine what the others would do. He picked up the platter off the nightstand and walked downstairs, still holding the beyblade, to tell the guys the news…

_**End Flashback**_

**If you like it, please tell me so and I will post the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Author's Note: _Yay! Another chappie! Thank you again to Suzanne, Neko-girl16, Kitty Kat K.O, and Kiki Ling. And thank you to my new readers, botanthegrimreaper89, sonata hirano, and OniProductions! Also, Suzanne, I wasn't sure how to add humor in here because of the story line but I will try to add some humor in later chapters. Please be patient with me! Well, here we go! On to the story!**

**_Disclaimer: _Blah blah blah I do not own Beyblade blah blah blah and so forth. **

**Chapter Three**

_**BBA Reunion, Beyblade Stadium**_

Kai sighed. How did he get himself talked into this? All of the Beyblade teams that competed in the national tournament two years ago was sent an invitation to a reunion for all the bladers at the Beyblade Stadium today and Kai's immediate answer was a resounding no. And yet, here he was, at the Beyblade Stadium even though he said he wasn't going to go. How had Tyson and Max convinced him to go? He didn't want to go; Rei wouldn't be there, he knew, they haven't seen or heard from him since the day he left two years ago, so why would he be there? 'This is pointless' he thought to himself as he stared around at all the bladers as they talked and laughed. He walked up to the rest of his team and told them he was going home. They didn't look surprised; they hadn't expected him to stay as long as he did anyway. He turned to leave when Kenny called him back. He glared at the boy but he stood his ground. They all knew he was just moody ever since Rei left and he wouldn't really do anything to them. Kai then realized that Kenny, Tyson, and Max were all standing in shock, looking at the entrance to the stadium. Kai turned slowly around and couldn't believe who had just walked in. Rei.

…

Rei walked into the stadium slowly so he wouldn't have to gimp. His wounds still hurt from this morning's daily beating. The deep gashes on his back and stomach still hurt from the whip, the small cuts from the blade his father had used were made just large enough to draw blood and leave an annoying sting behind. His head throbbed where it had been hit against the cement floor of the basement when he fell unconscious after the beating. He had woken up with an uncomfortable itching to the side of his head where the blood had dried. His whole body ached from sleeping on the cold, damp cement floor all night and he had a fever from an infection somewhere on one of his many wounds. He wasn't hurting so much physically, as mentally from the rape that was inflicted upon him by his deranged father, but there was still a dull throbbing in his backside that wouldn't cease.

He looked around. He hoped that no one would notice the wounds that were still bleeding. He had bandaged them, but even the bandages wouldn't stop the bleeding of some of the more severe wounds. He had worn a black hoodie with a pair of jeans that fit slightly tighter than necessary and black tennis shoes. Under the hoodie, he wore a black sleeveless top, much like the white shirts that the army soldiers wear when they aren't in uniform, except black. He hoped that with all the dark colors, the bloodstains wouldn't show up too much. He didn't want people asking questions. His hood was up to hide the few cuts on his face (he didn't have to worry about people seeing the bandage on his head from the fall; his bandanna covered it) and his hair. His hair had gotten in the way; it was always crusty with blood, so he had taken a pocketknife and cut it off. It was now short and naturally spiked; he was too lazy to do anything with it. 'Why bother? It's not long anymore so I don't have to take care of it like I used to.' Taller than he was, he was about 5'7" now and looked like your average model. Not that he cared. He didn't care about appearances anymore. He sighed. 'At least all my wounds and scars are covered. I don't really care what people think of me anymore, I stopped a long time ago, but I don't think I would be able to take it if people were asking questions left and right. That and the pity in their eyes would really get to me…'

…

Kai walked slowly towards Rei, the rest of the Bladebreakers followed closely behind, but he took no notice of it. His eyes never left the neko-jin. He was afraid that if he looked away then Rei would disappear again. That wouldn't happen; he wouldn't let it. What he didn't understand was why the neko-jin had a hood on. He had always worn sleeveless shirts and showed off his long midnight black hair, but now, his hair, along with most of his face, was hidden. The only reason the group had recognized him was the way his eyes glinted when the light touched them. Otherwise, they would probably have missed him completely. Now across the room, the team walked up to Rei, who hadn't seen them walking towards him, and stopped behind him. They hesitated. They didn't know what to say to the young neko-jin. What do you say to a friend that just leaves without giving a reason or telling his friends beforehand?

As if sensing someone behind him, Rei turned around. He had been deep in thought about his friends, wondering if they were at the reunion, too, when he turned around and almost collided with Kai. After years of practice, he managed to hide his surprise behind a carefully crafted mask that slid easily onto his face. It was now effortless to hide his emotions and it was impossible for anyone to see anything that he didn't want them to see. His mask was impenetrable.

Kai studied his love's face intently. There were several cuts and small bruises scattered along his face, his eyes were hooded over to block anyone from seeing his emotions, and his face was blank. He had had a lot of practice with this and Kai didn't like it. If he was going back home to China, why would he need to be emotionless? And why would he have cuts and bruises on his face? Something was very wrong. Apparently the rest of his team agreed with him because he could hear their gasps from behind him.

Rei hadn't only changed in attitude, though; he had also changed in appearance. Not only his style, but in his physique. He was more toned and taller, almost as tall as Kai at 6'1". But he was a lot paler. His skin wasn't as tan as it used to be, from what he could see in his face at least. He looked almost…sickly. Not only that, but he looked flushed, like he was feverish. He looked underweight as well, considering his body type. 'He could use a few pounds' Kai thought as he studied his face. Suddenly, everything happened at once: Rei's legs gave out as he fell forward, Tyson screamed, Max and Kenny gasped simultaneously, and Kai lunged forward and caught Rei before he hit the ground, unconscious. Kai was right, Rei did have a fever, a high one.

Rei mentally kicked himself. The surprise of seeing Kai and his other friends had drained him of all the energy he was putting forth to keep himself conscious and standing. The relief at seeing that, even though he had left so suddenly, his friends had still sought him out and didn't seem to hate him, had completely drained him and he had just let go. Had it been anyone else, he would never have even thought about doing that, but he just couldn't hold on anymore. The fever had been eating away at him until he felt as if it were draining him of all life. His last conscious thought was that Kai looked even hotter than he remembered and how his strong arms felt good wrapped around his waist. He then drifted into the sweet bliss of unconsciousness…

…

Tyson and Max were sitting on the love seat in their flat just outside the door to the room that Rei was sleeping in. Both of them kept glancing at each other worriedly, silently asking the other what they should do, neither of them coming up with an answer. Kenny was typing away on Dizzi on the very couch that Rei had been sitting on the day that he left while muttering to himself, presumably about what they had just seen. Kai had been pacing the living room for the past two hours after they brought Rei back with them.

"Pacing is not going to make him wake up faster." Kenny had momentarily stopped what he was doing long enough to point out the obvious to Kai.

"I know," Kai bit out, "but I can't help it! You saw all those scars on his body! All those cuts and slashes and those bruises! No wonder he had a fever! Who the hell did that to him? I'll fucking kill them!"

The other three boys cringed at the murderous look on Kai's face. They all knew how he felt about Rei. Kai didn't know that they knew, but it was kind of obvious. Well, obvious to all but Rei. They understood how he felt, but getting mad at some unknown person was not going to help Rei any. They just had to wait for Rei to wake up and hope that he'll tell them what was going on and let them help him. Somehow, though, they all doubted that he would. They were starting to believe that the condition he was in now had something to do with the reason that he left. They didn't know what Rei was mixed up in, but they were his friends, and they wanted to help as best they could.

When no one looked like they were going to answer him, Kai went back to pacing, while the others continued what they were previously doing. They couldn't do anything until Rei woke up anyway.

…

Rei awoke with a groan. His whole body hurt and he was disoriented. He didn't know where he was or how he got there. He remembered being at the reunion in the Beyblade stadium and what happened after that, much to his dismay. After that, though, he remembered nothing. Looking around, he took in his surroundings. The room he was in looked familiar. It was a medium sized room with a dresser; a nightstand was beside the queen-sized bed he was laying in, a chair in the corner of the room with a lamp and small table. On the table lay a book. From where he was sitting, he could see that the book was not written in Japanese or English. Curious, he pushed aside the covers and slowly stood up from the bed. He had to stand there for a little while, urging his spinning head and churning stomach to calm themselves, before he stepped closer to the small table containing the book. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the book was in Russian. He stopped. 'Wait. Russian? Oh no…' Sudden dread rose in the pit of the young neko-jin's stomach. He now realized why the room looked so familiar: this was _Kai's_ room! Panicking, he crept to the door and opened it slightly. From the crack, he could see the living room with everyone in it. The only way out was to go through the living room. There were no windows in Kai's room. He didn't like the sun in his eyes in the morning so he had purposefully chosen the room without windows. The room was convenient for Kai, but a prison for Rei. Suddenly feeling dizzy, Rei fell to his knees, grabbing the near-by chair on his way down, causing a loud crash to sound in its wake.

…

Kai's heart almost stopped at the sound of the chair hitting the floor. Hearing it, his mind immediately conjured up images of Rei being hurt; he ran into his room before the other three even had the chance to register where the noise had come from. He was already kneeling beside Rei to see if he was all right before Tyson came bounding into the room, followed closely by his lover and Kenny, who walked slowly with Dizzi in hand.

"REI! Are you all right? What's wrong? What happened? Did you hurt yourself? How many fingers am I holding up? Who am I? Why aren't you answering!" Tyson was almost hysterical as he asked this last question. Gasping for much needed air, Max put a comforting arm around his shoulders and kissed him gently on the lips, giving him a warm smile.

"Calm down, Ty. He can't answer you when you ask all the questions in one breath." Max chuckled at his lover's foolishness.

"Are you all right, Rei?" This last question was spoken quietly by Kai. After getting a nod from the Chinese boy, Kai proceeded to help Rei back to his feet and into bed. "Wait here." Kai ordered with a glare; there was no room to protest. When Rei noticed that Kai was still there, he realized that the blunette was waiting for an actual answer, so he nodded. Kai, seemingly satisfied, left Rei alone with Tyson, Max, and Kenny. An awkward silence was left in his wake. A few minutes later Kai walked back into the room carrying a bowl of steaming soup with a glass of hot cider. He handed them both to Rei on a tray, which he took gratefully. While Rei began eating the warm, satisfying soup, Kai watched him intently. Rei was aware of the others staring at him as well and was starting to get a little uncomfortable.

As Rei ate the soup and drank the hot cider, Kai thought about what he was going to say to get Rei to open up and tell him where all his injuries and scars came from. Maybe then Rei will tell them why he left and why he never talked about his past…?

Once Rei had finished eating, Kai picked up Rei's tray and everyone settled down around the bed. Kai was sitting beside Rei on the bed, Max and Tyson were sitting on the end of the bed, and Kenny was sitting in the chair in the corner observing it all. Rei gulped. He knew what was coming next. Something he had been dreading the moment he realized where he was. He also knew it was inevitable and unavoidable.

"Where did all those wounds come from? What happened to you?" Kai's questions were more like demands; they were said in such a way that they couldn't be avoided even if he tried.

He sighed. Might as well get it over with anyway and not avoid the subject like he usually does. The question was what was he going to say? Should he tell them what was going on? Or should he make up some story about how he got the injuries. Problem was, he couldn't think up a story that they would believe. His friends were smart. Well, all but Tyson that is, but that was beside the point. He could still tell that Rei would be lying. He was never very good at making stories. Even a child could tell that he was making it up. He sighed again; it seemed like he was doing that a lot lately. Looking around at his friends, he knew he was defeated.

_**You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out why his dad hates him so much! *hides* Don't kill me!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**_Author's note: _Another chapter! Boy, I'm on a role, huh? Thanks again to xHitsulover, OniProductions, and sonata hirano for the reviews! And thank you to my new readers, xxlivingxdeadxchickxx and Kayland Elric, for the story alert!**

**_Disclaimer: _I OWN NOTHING! *mumbles* except the story…and the characters you may see later on and don't recognize…they are completely mine and mine alone! They cannot be stolen/used in/for any other story! Unless you ask, then I may let you use them if you are nice about it.**

**Chapter Four**

"I have to know first. You…don't hate me?" he asked softly. At the blank looks on his friends' faces, he chose to elaborate. "I just left. I left a short note that didn't tell you guys anything and I left without telling any of you guys. If it were me, I'd be pissed!" Rei looked around at each of his friends and saw many emotions flick across their faces, none of which were that of hate. Rei didn't know what to think. He thought they'd be furious, but here they were, sitting around his bed, apparently more forgiving than he gave them credit for. Surprised, he looked over at Kai, as if to verify this, and barely stopped his jaw from dropping. Sitting there, Kai had the cutest expression on his face that Rei had ever seen. It was a combination of tenderness and an emotion that he couldn't quite place. 'Damnit Kai, not a good time to do this to me! Now is not a good time to tell you that I love you! Especially since I'm obviously not going to get away with changing the subject of my past and my current condition to something else! You'll have a different opinion about me once you know about what I've done!' Rei screamed inwardly. He was so weak and tired of it all that he was afraid he would just open up and let out his deepest, darkest, innermost secrets to everyone. Luckily, Max spoke up before he got the chance.

"No, we don't hate you. We're a little disappointed that you don't trust us enough to tell us what's going on with you, but we're friends. We could never hate you, Rei." Rei sighed in relief. Knowing that his friends still cared about him after everything was enough to drain the stress of the past two years away. At least for the time being anyway. "But," Rei looked up. He knew what was coming next. "That doesn't mean that we're going to let you off the hook. Tell us what's going on, Rei. Why do you never talk about your past? Is there a connection between your past and the shape you're in right now? You have major lacerations and scars, along with bruises and small cuts all over your body. What happened to you? You have to tell us, Rei. Maybe we can help."

Rei looked to Kai, silently asking for help, but Kai just nodded as if to silently say 'Go on' so, deciding that there was no way out of it, he settled back into the bed, his head propped up on the pillows. Not wanting to see the pity and disgust written on their faces, he covered his eyes with his arm and began his story…

…

**_"Rei! Over here! Come on, look at this!" Rei's older brother yelled excitedly. Rei walked cautiously over to his brother._**

"_**I'm coming Raka-nii!" Rei yelled. He chuckled to himself. His onii-chan was so excited about his twelfth birthday today that he could barely contain himself. Not that he blamed him; he himself had been quite excited about his fifth birthday just two months ago. He was so happy when he got that new kitten, whom he had named Chika, for his birthday and was wondering what kind of present his parents had gotten his beloved brother.**_

_**Along the path leading to the small town they lived in, Raka suddenly turned around and faced his little brother, who was following closely behind him. "Rei, let's go and check out the dam that got flooded out last week! It'll be awesome!" Rei gave him a look of trepidation and his brother continued, "We've been working out in the woods cutting wood for the stove all day! We deserve to see something cool. They won't miss us if we take a few more minutes. The path to the dam is just right here!" Rei still wasn't convinced but followed his brother nonetheless as he turned right towards the dam instead of left to the village. This was his brother, and he trusted him; he would follow him anywhere. "Come on! Just a little farther!" Rei was having trouble keeping up with his brother; he was taller, older, and had longer legs that could carry him farther than Rei's could without using as much energy as the younger boy. He was huffing by the time they got to the end of the path, which had inclined sharply a little ways back. It was almost straight up. **_

"_**Whoa," Rei breathed as he took in the sight before him. There was a large gorge that ran through the forested area with the dam a little ways to their left. The dam's middle was completely blown out; cracks snaked their way up and through the rest of the dam, making it look like webs reaching outward from the middle. He had never seen something so magnificent. Inching closer to take a better look, he didn't see the slippery decline of the gorge until it was too late. With a cry of surprise, he started sliding down the hill, hitting large rocks along the way, making cuts and bruises appear on his back, legs, and arms as he tried to stop his descent. Suddenly, his brother was sliding along with him, helping him stop himself. Slowing down, Rei breathed a sigh of relief as they stopped at the bottom of the gorge. Even though he could not see an immediate way out—the gorge, from where he was standing, was too steep to climb back up—he was relieved. It had even started to pour down the rain, and he was sore, but alive and his brother was there with him. His relief was short lived, though. **_

"_**Rei. Grab on to me, now!" He didn't understand what was going on, but he did as his brother told him and grabbed onto his brother. His brother then hoisted him up onto his shoulder and set him on a small edge that stuck out of the side of the gorge. "Rei, I want you to dig your hands and feet into the dirt, okay? It'll be hard, but I want you to do it and climb out." Rei didn't want to do it, his body was sore from the fall down, but he didn't argue. Something in his brother's voice told him that he needed to do it. His brother sounded like he was scared, hurried, but Rei couldn't think of why.**_

_**He started climbing up, his brother following closely behind. They both climbed in silence, Rei too focused on trying to climb up the incline without slipping and falling on his brother, and Raka was too focused on, well, Rei didn't know what, but he was thinking intently about something. Three-fourths of the way up, and Rei was tired, but his brother kept urging him to go faster. Two minutes later and Rei found out the answer to Raka's urgency: the rain was making the gorge flood, and it was filling fast. They would be under water in a matter of moments. Rei urged his hands and feet to carry him faster up the gorge, but it made no difference. The water would be upon them in seconds. Just as he thought 'We're gonna die!' he felt his brother grab him around the waist and use all of the strength his demon-body possessed and threw Rei onto flat grounds. The force knocked him backward into the gorge and everything, to Rei, seemed to happen in slow motion. His brother fell, a terrified expression on his face. Slowly, though, a small smile formed and he whispered one word before the rushing water engulfed him. Although Rei couldn't hear it, he could read on his lips what he had whispered: Rei.**_

…

Rei had to pause in his story to keep himself from crying. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his friends. Kai, seeing his struggle, sat next to Rei and pulled him into his arms. Rei leaned into the comfort of his love's embrace and, despite his struggle to contain it, he began to sob. Kai was torn. He wanted to hear more of the story, he knew that couldn't be all, but seeing Rei like this grabbed at his heart.

Kai began stroking Rei's hair while he let out all his pent-up feelings into Kai's shoulder. Rei didn't want his friends to turn away from him when he told the rest of his story, but he felt like he owed it to them now. He couldn't back out after he had told them about the saddest day of his life. He had to continue, so he pulled out of Kai's embrace, both of them immediately missing the warmth of the contact, and began his story again, resuming his previous position but without putting his arm over his face. Instead, he studied a wrinkle in the blanket on the bed.

…

_**Rei had been found two hours later, just sitting next to the ravine where his brother had disappeared. He hadn't moved from that spot since Raka had hoisted him up there. He hadn't shed a tear for his brother yet; he just sat there, staring blankly at the rushing water, soaked to the bone from the rain. He didn't know what to do; he had never been without his brother, never thought he would have to be. And it was his fault. It had to be his fault. If he hadn't fallen into the gorge then his brother wouldn't have had to slide down after him and rescue him. If only he hadn't wanted a closer look at the magnificent scene before him. 'Now what?' he silently asked himself. In his mind he had killed his own brother. Maybe not with his own hands, but he had played a part in his brother's death. **_

_**He could hear whispering. The adults were worried about him. It had been three days since the incident with the dam, and he hadn't said anything to anyone, hadn't mourned for his brother. He was still in shock. Everyone in the village thought he was a cold, heartless bastard, but that wasn't true. He cared for his brother. So much so that he believed that if he cried for his brother, he would be betraying him. Betraying his memory. His brother was dead because of him, and he didn't dare mourn him; he believed that he didn't have the right to. **_

_**The funeral held for his brother the next day was a short one, with a closed casket. It had taken the rescuers a while to find his body, and it was so badly mangled that even the embalmers couldn't do anything for him. The rocks had torn away at his flesh and the water had seeped into his body, causing his whole body to swell and bulge. His skin had turned dark shades of purple, red, black, and blue, his eyes were glazed and the fear of death still lingered in them, causing the rescuers to have to cover his face, so as not to see them. They almost hadn't recognized him and, if it weren't for the cat-like features that made him stand out as a neko-jin, they may never have known that it was him. **_

_**Before the funeral, Rei had gone with his father to identify the body; his mother couldn't bring herself to go. She had tried to make Rei stay with her, but he had gone anyway, needing to say one last farewell to his beloved brother. What he saw would stay with him for the rest of his life. Whenever he thought about his brother, he would no longer think of the happy boy he had admired so much, but the mangled and disfigured body that was recovered from the deadly waters of the river that Rei now despised so much. 'I will never forgive myself for doing this to you, onii-chan,' he vowed silently to himself. Unbidden, the tears began to flow, though he had promised himself he wouldn't let them, and he sobbed his heart out. He cried so long and so much that it seemed as if he could never cry again. In fact, at the funeral shortly after, he didn't cry, he couldn't. He was all out of tears. **_

_**Two days after the funeral, Rei found his mother in the bedroom his parents shared. Dead. She couldn't handle the grief of losing her oldest son and had slit both of her wrists. Rei blamed himself for her death as well. 'It was my fault. If I hadn't killed onii-chan then none of this would have ever happened. Or maybe if I had died instead everything would be all right. If I had died, no one would have really cared. Brother was so much more important than I am. He was so loved! Why did onii-chan die instead of me?' **_

_**After her funeral, his father couldn't bear to stay in that house, in that town, where his oldest son and his beloved wife had died, so he found a nice little village for them to move to. The town they were in now didn't have any other neko-jins than them. They, the Kons, were the only neko-jins for miles around. The new village that his father had found had several neko-jins living in it and Rei's father thought it would be a good idea to be around their own people. They moved the day after he found out about a house for sale in the village.**_

_**When they arrived at the village, Rei didn't know what to expect. He had never met anyone that was a neko-jin other than his family, of coarse, and frankly, he didn't know how to react around them. What if they didn't like him? What if they were afraid of the five-year-old boy who had killed his brother and his mom? With these questions whizzing around in his mind, he stepped out of the cab they had called to take them to the village and was greeted by the warm afternoon sun; something he hadn't been appreciating lately. **_

_**Word traveled fast in a small village like the one they were in, and apparently the landlord of their new house had told someone about their story, because everyone knew about it, about them. People were scrambling to give their condolences to the remaining Kons: Yuji Kon and his young son, Rei Kon. None of them looked at Rei with disgusted looks on their faces, they were all very sympathetic, which took a great load off the poor boy's shoulders, relief evident in his features. **_

_**Rei felt a tap on his shoulder and looked around. Standing behind him, he saw a young girl, around his age, maybe a year younger, and a boy, probably seven. They were both looking at him with innocently curious gazes, and Rei felt the need to introduce himself. "Hi. My name's Rei."**_

_**The girl giggled. She was shorter than Rei and had bright pink hair. Her clothes were also pink, and she was carrying around a pink teddy bear. She kept her thumb in her mouth and Rei noted that it was slightly wrinkled from the long exposure to the moisture in her mouth. 'Bad habit,' he thought to himself. The girl giggled again and said, rather obnoxiously and loud, with a high pitched, very girly voice, "My name's Mariah. And this is Lee." She pointed to the boy behind her. He was taller than Rei, and kind of stocky. Not so much overweight, but definitely beefier than most children. He hadn't noticed before, because he had been standing behind the girl known as Mariah, but he had pointed ears and sharp canines, much like himself. On closer inspection, so did Mariah. 'So,' he thought to himself, 'I guess I've just met my first neko-jins that aren't family.'**_

_**As the days went by, everything seemed to be great. He had made fast friends with Lee and Mariah, even though she was overbearingly pink and could be quite obnoxious when she wanted to be, and he was even starting to feel happiness again. It all changed though when he came home one day, about a week and a half after they had moved into the village. His father had started to drink; he had drunk before, but not like he was now. Now, he wasn't just drinking because he liked an occasional beer, no, he was trying to drink away the memories of his wife and son's lifeless bodies. When he started to drink, he started to get ideas. Ideas about whose fault it really was that half his family was dead. He had come to the conclusion that it was Rei's fault. He tried to deny the feeling at first—Rei was his son and he loved him—but the more he drank, the more it seemed like it was Rei's fault. After the alcohol wore off, he would see the ignorance in the idea, but the more he drank, the more the idea began to form, and soon, the notion stuck with him even when he was sober. Eventually, he just snapped. It was Rei's fault. It was Rei's fault that his wife and son were dead, and he would pay for it. He loved his son, he really did, but he would have to be punished.**_

_**And that's when the beatings began…**_

That's all for this chapter! You'll have to wait until the next one! Please review if you want me to write another chapter! I already have some ideas for it, but I'm not going to post it if no one's going to read it.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Author's note: _Thank you for all the reviews! Thanks to everyone who review on a regular basis: Suzanne, xHitsulover, sonata hirano, Kayland Elric, and neko-girl16. And to my new reader: Demolition-GIRL-33236. Thanks to everyone else who read my story as well! I love everyone even if you don't review! Thank you sooo much! *hugs all of you* Here is your reward!**

**_Disclaimer: _Beyblade is not mine, I do not own it, blah blah blah…**

**Chapter Five**

**_Rei spent the next few years of his life living with the pain of knowing that his father thought he was responsible for both his mother's and his brother's deaths. The physical pain that his father inflicted upon him paled in comparison to the emotional pain that he endured every day of his life. He took it in stride, though. After hearing that it was his fault every day, he had begun to believe it. Not that it took much to convince him, he was still guilt-ridden and believed that if he had died, or if he hadn't fallen into the ravine, things would be different; his family would be alive and happy, with or without him._**

_**The beatings had started shortly after they had moved to the village and it had become a daily occurrence for Rei and his father: Rei would come home from school, his father would drag him to the basement, tie him up, and beat him, lash him with a whip, make shallow cuts with his hunting knife, anything to cause more pain for Rei. The beatings had escalated since they first started occurring. They had become more frequent, crueler. The pain was more intense and the wounds lasted longer. Rei never complained, though. In his mind, he deserved the punishment, so he didn't tell anyone about the abuse he was receiving at home. **_

_**When the punishments were more severe, his father would tie him to the wall in the basement, strip him of his shirt, and use the whip to lash him. He would then proceed to beating him with his fists, kicking him, striking with the butt end of his knife, cut him just deep enough to cause pain, but not to cause his son to bleed to death. He would then…**_

…

Rei broke off. He couldn't continue any longer. He would always be scarred for life, images of what happened after each of the beatings haunted him in his nightmares, and sometimes in his waking hours. He couldn't tell them that. He couldn't bring himself to express that particular part of his life in words.

Kai saw that Rei wasn't going to continue with the story and ushered the other three out of the room. Rei had told them enough for now. He wanted to know the rest of the story, but it was obvious that it was too painful for Rei to relive it. He was already tortured enough as it was, so Kai allowed Rei to drop the subject. For now. He would get to the bottom of this, though, for Rei's sake. Only then would he tell Rei how he felt about him.

Kai wrapped his arms around Rei and pulled him into his embrace once again, and Rei willingly went into it. He clung to Kai as if clinging to his very life, and slowly slipped into a deep slumber. Kai watched him sleep for a little while before falling asleep as well, both of them cuddled together under the covers on the bed.

…

Kai awoke with a start. Something had woken him from his comfortable sleep, some kind of noise coming from his left. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was five o'clock in the evening. Rei hadn't talked for very long and when the two of them had gone to sleep, it was around three o'clock. Hearing the strange sound again that had awoken him, he realized it was Rei. He was still clinging to Kai, snuggled against him, but he was whimpering and shaking; he had broken out in a cold sweat as well, and Kai didn't think it was from the fever; that had gone down long ago, sometime before Rei had woken up earlier that day after they brought him back from the Beyblade Stadium. Kai observed him for a while, and realized that his beloved neko-jin was having a nightmare. Not knowing what else to do, Kai tried to comfort him.

…

_Rei stepped into the house that he thought he had left behind long ago. Memories of what happened inside these walls flooded back to him, making him light-headed with fear. He didn't want to be back here, but he had no choice: he was going to protect his friends, no matter what the cost. Stepping quietly, hoping that he wouldn't run into his father just yet so he could find a safe place to hide his belongings, he walked through the living room and into the small hallway. He turned slightly to the right, avoiding looking to the left a little ways up, where the door to the basement was, and went up the steps, his feet automatically walking the familiar path to his old bedroom. He hadn't used the room much, he spent most of his time at school (his father insisted that he go to school to get an education and to keep people from being suspicious) or in the basement on the cold floor, but he remembered where it was, even after he had been away for so long._

_Walking into the room, he looked around. It was exactly as he had left it; nothing had changed except for the layer of dust that covered everything in the room, making his nose itch. He sneezed a little and hoped that his father's sharp cat-like ears hadn't picked up the small noise. He walked farther into the room and set his bag down on the bed, causing a cloud of dust to billow up from the covers and Rei had to close his eyes when the dust invaded them._

_Being back in the place he feared most, with the person he feared most in some unknown part of the house made Rei think about Kai and the others. He wished he were back there with them, most of all Kai. He wished he had told Kai how he felt, just been honest about it. Then he wouldn't have this heavy weight pressing down on him, making him feel as if he were being crushed. He should have told Kai; maybe he felt the same way…or…maybe he was just being stupid. No one could love someone who had killed his own brother. What was he thinking?_

_Rei sighed softly, opening his eyes, but froze when he looked into a pair of golden eyes much like his own. Fear swept through him quick and fast, causing him to stumble backwards a ways, before the backs of his knees collided with the bed, causing him to fall on top of it. He blinked in surprise as he slowly opened his eyes again and saw his father standing over him. His father chuckled. "Well, well. So you did come back. You care so much for those so-called friends of yours?" He chuckled again, darkly. "If they're so worthy of your affection, then why don't you trust them enough to tell them about yourself?"_

_Rei couldn't answer his father even if he wanted to. His mouth and throat were dry, his heart was racing, and he felt nauseated. 'Don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up.' He chanted to himself as he slowly stood up. 'Don't give him the satisfaction of knowing you're scared of him.' Just when he thought it was working, and he was calmed down enough to throw a snide comment back at his father, he received a hard blow to the stomach, just below the ribs, causing him to double over in pain, the breath knocked out of his lungs. Rei let out a small 'ooph' sound and sat on his knees on the ground, holding his stomach. He looked up, ready to glare at his father, but didn't get the chance when his head received a sharp blow, causing Rei to fall unconscious. The last thing he heard was his father laughing, but at the same time apologizing to Rei, telling him how much he loved him and how he was only doing what he had to do to punish his son._

…

Rei whimpered in his sleep again and Kai couldn't take it anymore; his patience was running thin. The comforting wasn't working, and it was time to wake Rei up. Kai shook Rei gently. "Rei." He mumbled worriedly. "Rei, wake up. You're having a dream; it's only a dream. Come on, wake up." His voice was uncharacteristically gentle as he tried to wake the young neko-jin.

…

_Rei slowly came back to consciousness, his shirt off, his wrists bound above his head to the support beams on the ceiling in the middle of the room. The rope around his wrists was so tight and thin that it had cut into them, making them bleed. The blood steadily streamed down his arms. He groaned when he turned his head to look at his surroundings; his head still hurt from being hit. Fear gripped his stomach. 'Where is my father?' he silently asked himself. Looking around in the dark basement he waited for his eyes to adjust. It didn't take long with his demon, cat-like eyes. He could make out the large, damp, empty room, and didn't see his father, but he could smell him. It was his house, so his scent was everywhere, but it was strong, which meant that he was definitely down there with him. He narrowed his eyes at the darkest area under the steps that lead upstairs. Sure enough, he saw a pair of shining gold eyes staring intently at him. When his father noticed that Rei had discovered his presence in the room, he stepped out of the dark space and walked menacingly towards his son._

_Without a word, his father hit Rei across the face with the back of his hand, drawing a startled yelp from the boy as his head jerked to the side. He hadn't been expecting that and hadn't prepared himself for the assault. He glared up at his father who looked down at him steadily, no emotion showing in his eyes. Rei knew it was only a matter of time before the real beatings took place._

_'He will pay for killing my son and wife. They were our family! Then he ran away, the little coward! I will make him pay! I don't know what he was thinking. Did he think he could get away? Go unpunished? No. I won't let that happen' With a smile, Yuji's mind was made up. This time, his son would not get away._

_The beatings lasted for hours. Rei tried to keep quiet as best he could, but an occasional moan or gasp would escape his lips whenever his father hit a sensitive spot or an area he had hit just a little while before. His father was extremely vicious this time, as if making up for the lost time when Rei was in Japan. He used the whip more than usual, flicking in over the boy's soft flesh over and over again. The whip made a soft whooshing sound as it whizzed through the air before slicing into Rei's body, causing his muscles to clench involuntarily. This only caused the wounds he already had, and the wounds his father was still inflicting upon him to be even more painful. Yuji moved from the front of his son's body and lashed him with the whip and then moved to the back, giving the wounds a short time to stop bleeding. Rei could take a lot of punishment since he wasn't completely human, but that didn't mean that he couldn't still die from blood loss or too deep of a wound. When he tired of using the whip, he would beat the boy with his fists or kick him when he tired of that. Wanting to get creative, he used the hunting knife that he bought specifically for the purpose of punishing his son, effectively, to cut patterns into the youths body. 'I have to admit, he has gotten better at tolerating the pain' his father thought, with a small frown. 'I know one way that I can still get under his skin, though.' With that, Yuji smirked and put down his knife._

_Rei's eyes widen when he realized what was going to happen next. He was hoping that his father wouldn't do it this time since he seemed to be satisfied with just beating him, but it seemed like his hopes were not answered. He began shaking uncontrollably as his father stalked closer, a lusty gleam in his eyes. Yuji cut down his son's hands causing him to fall to the floor, but left his hands bound together so he (Rei) couldn't inflict any harm upon him (Yuji). Leaning down, he flipped the terrified boy onto his stomach and proceeded to pull down his pants. Rei began whimpering and pleading with his father to stop. "Please, no. Don't do this, please! Please don't do this!" His father only smiled and continued with violating his own son…_

…

Rei let out a small cry and silent tears began to flow down his face. Kai was shocked and didn't know what to do. Upon hearing Rei's tortured cry, his friends came bounding into the room, worried looks on their faces. "What's wrong with him?" Max and Tyson asked at the same time. Kenny just nodded, wondering the same thing.

"I don't know. He was having a nightmare so I tried to wake him up. He wouldn't wake up, though, and…you know the rest." Kai said, his usual cold stare and emotionless voice back in place.

"Well what do we do?" Tyson asked, worry evident in his voice and on his face. Tyson, Kenny, and Max all looked at Kai. He always knew what to do. This time though, he had no clue how to solve the problem.

Rei let out another cry and everyone turned towards the sleeping neko-jin, worry etched on each of the boys' faces except Kai's. Outside he looked perfectly calm, but inside he was being torn apart. Studying the boy's face, Kai asked himself the questions he really wanted to ask Rei: 'what could make you look so tortured? Rei, why can't you open up to me? I only want to help…'

…

_When Yuji had finished raping his son, he pulled up the boy's pants and left him on the floor, hands still bound, wounds untreated. He left the basement and headed upstairs to take a shower to get his son's filthy blood off of him._

_Rei lay on the floor thinking about the past hour with his father. He had raped him mercilessly and without feeling guilt or having a second thought, even while Rei pleaded and begged him not to throughout the whole thing. 'Now I can never go back.' He thought to himself. With his tainted body and his wounded soul, he would never be the same. With that, he drifted into unconsciousness, the blood loss making him weak and tired…_

…

Delicate eyelids opened, revealing golden eyes clouded with hurt. It gripped at the hearts of the four boys who were silently studying him to see if he was all right. Looking around, dread filled Rei. His friends wouldn't leave him alone after that horrible nightmare he just had. Once fully awake, Rei sighed, resigned to the fact that there was no choice but to tell his friends the rest of his story. As he told them, his voice and face were unemotional, so lost was he in his thoughts. He told them his story automatically, not really hearing what he was saying, but at the same time knowing that he was telling them everything. He didn't want to relive it after that dream so he lost himself in the few good memories he did have, before his mom and brother died.

TBC

_**Note: **_**Um…yeah. I hope it was all right. I didn't want to make the rape scene too graphic since this fic is rated T so…okay. What did you think about it? I would have written more, but I couldn't think of anything else to write. I'll have to think about it for a while, read some more fanfics from other people, get inspired. I will try to have it written and posted soon! Oh yeah, and if you would like me to add some more characters, just send a review and tell me who you want and I will find a way to put them in! If I don't put them in six, I will put them in seven. **

**Also, I have a question for my readers: what would you say to a lemony chapter? (Obviously KaiRei—I got a request for it and I had already planned to ask you guys if I could make one, but the request just kind of…spurred me on) *cringes* It would be my first so I couldn't guarantee that it would be good…So that was what I wanted to ask. I would probably have to up the rating to M, though. I wanted to ask all of you first because I am so grateful to you guys! You're the best, so I just want to make you happy. I'm not sure if it would be in six or seven though…Anyway, please tell me what you think about that!**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Author's Note: _Thank you so much to those of you that have stuck with me for so long (and to my new readers), I appreciate it. Sorry it took so long, but I've finally got it up! Ah, the wonders of flashdrives and library computers! (You'll only have understood that if you read my author's note before I deleted it) *squeals with delight and claps hands while jumping up and down* Okay, scary! That was waaay too fangirl-ish. Bleh!**

**Oh yeah, about the lemony chapter, the vote was divided. Half wanted it, the other half didn't. Out of respect for the half that were against it, I am not making a lemony chapter. Also, there will not be a sequel to this fic. Sorry to those of you who asked for one (even though I'm still not even finished with this story yet O.o), but I already have ideas for my next fic and frankly, I havn't decided if I even like this one yet. It's my first one so…it's not that good. It's okay, but it could be better. Oh, in case you haven't noticed, I went back and edited all of the chapters. There aren't any major changes, but if you go back and something's different, that's why. Thanks for listening to me rant! Let's get started!**

**_Disclaimer: _I don't own anything! **

**Chapter Six**

After Rei had finished talking, he had asked them to leave him alone for a little while. Still stunned, they had all filed out without complaint or resistance. He had told them everything: from his mom and brother dying, to his father blaming him, the beatings, the rape, the self-loathing (he didn't out-right tell them that, but it was obvious in his voice and the way he spoke that he hated himself and blamed himself for their deaths as much as his father did).

Needing something to do, Kenny suggested that they all go shopping for a while and leave Rei to think. Tyson hadn't wanted to go, but Max insisted. Being the pushover that he was when it came to Max, he agreed. Kai had just tagged along because his mind was in a haze and he needed some time to think without having Rei around to cloud those thoughts. He was pissed, more than pissed, he was furious! He didn't understand how a father could do that to his own son, or how Rei, innocent, sweet Rei, had to experience all those horrible things while believing that he had killed his family, people he loved! Rage and bloodthirsty hatred flared inside Kai as he glared at the innocent milk jug in the produce department of the small store that the group had decided to do their shopping at. He was filled with such anger and hatred that he even forgot to put up his cold façade to hide the emotions that now flitted freely across his face.

So lost in thought was he that he didn't notice the poor cowering girl, around seven years of age, who sat next to the shelf that held the cereal she was trying to get to. Her mother, who had been waiting for the girl to come to the checkout counter with her choice of cereal, rounded the corner and saw the scene before her: a young man, very handsome, with two-toned blue hair, lighter in the front and darker in the back, slightly unruly. He was tall, 6'1" or so, and had a fair build, stockier than the average boy. 'He must work out or something' the woman mused. He had two shark fin tattoos running horizontally on each cheek, making him look sexy, but at the same time, unattainable and unapproachable. His eyes were an odd, but beautiful and intriguing, shade of crimson that looked as if they would normally be able to draw you in and hold your gaze like nothing else could, but at the moment looked murderous. The young man truly looked as if he were going to kill someone or _something_ seeing as he was glaring at the milk jug so venomously. There was something else about him, too, something she couldn't quite place her finger on. He seemed…familiar somehow…

Tearing her eyes away from the attractive young man, the woman looked down and saw the little bundle of life that she had been searching for and couldn't help but smile. The girl was cowering in fear and looking at the boy as if he were going to lash out at her at any given moment.

Feeling as if someone were watching him, Kai turned around to see who it may be, but stopped when he heard a small 'eek' coming from somewhere below eye level. When he looked down he saw a small cowering bundle looking as if she were trying to make herself meld into the shelf that held the cereal. Amusement and guilt filled Kai, both fighting for dominance as he looked at the timid child. Seeing his gaze upon her, she cowered a little more and guilt won Kai over. He pasted a small smile on his face, the best one he could muster considering the condition he was in and the fact that all of his smiles were usually cynical or mocking, not kind. Apparently he didn't do too terrible of a job because the young girl visibly relaxed and Kai gave a small, inaudible sigh of relief.

A woman, Kai presumed to be the child's mother and the one who was watching him, then stepped forward and picked the girl up. She smiled at Kai and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Mika Kirotani, and this is my daughter, Kira. How do you do?" She then smiled warmly, tucked her daughter under her left arm, holding her on her hip, and held out her right hand in the obvious sign for a handshake.

Hesitating only slightly, Kai took her hand, perplexed at this show of kindness, carefully keeping his confusion from showing on his face. "Kai Hiwatari." He replied simply. The woman smiled again and shook his hand with a firm grip, noting to herself that even his deep baritone voice was sexy.

Still smiling, the woman took up conversation with Kai. "Now I know why you seem familiar!" Kai raised an eyebrow at the spoken thoughts and a small blush crept onto the woman's face. "You were the leader of the Beyblade team that won the Tournament a few years back, weren't you? What was it called again…?" The woman made a face like she was thinking, her eyes squinted, her nose wrinkled; it looked as if she had smelled something really foul and had no way of avoiding the stench, but was interested in the things around her despite that. She reminded Kai of one of those bulldogs with the squished-looking faces and he had to resist the urge to throw something and yell 'Fetch!' As stupid as the thought sounded, his spirits were lifted a little by the thought, no matter how ridiculous it may have been. He was snapped out of his reverie when the woman suddenly exclaimed 'Oh!' and continued talking. "You were called the Bladebreakers, were you not?" At Kai's nod, she continued, "My daughter is a big fan of yours! Honey, you remember the Bladebreakers from the Beyblade Tournament on TV, right?" she addressed her daughter. To Kai, she said, "She was young, but when it's about something she likes, she has a great memory." Turning back to her daughter, Mika asked her: "You remember them, don't you?" Kira nodded and her mother smiled in delight. Kai would never admit it, but he was happy that, even now, after the Bladebreakers were no more, people still remembered them.

Realizing who Kai actually was, the girl gave a squeal of delight and, presumably forgetting all of her previous fear of the young Russian, launched herself at Kai before either he, or her mother, had any time to react. Taken by surprise, Kai was nearly knocked over onto the milk jug that he had been glaring at just moments ago, but managed to catch his balance and prevent himself from dropping the young girl. 'Hn. She's not so timid after all.' Kai thought to himself, amused at the complete 180 that the girl's personality had taken. Kira then started firing one question after another at the former blader. (1)"Where are the others? Do you guys still blade? How come I haven't seen you guys at any of the tournaments?" and so on and so forth…

_**Back at the Bladebreaker's flat**_

Rei sat in silence, contemplating the last few hours that he had been back in Japan. Against his better judgment, he had told his friends about what his father did to him, and what he himself had done. Depression and an utter sense of loneliness filled his whole being. Having mistaken his friends' disgusted faces for disgust for him and his actions, not his father's, he was unsure of what to do. He knew he wouldn't be able to look his friends in the face when they got back and didn't want to be here to see his friends quickly turn into forced acquaintances. Their genuine smiles would become forced, they would look upon him with disgust, fear, or a combination of both, and he couldn't stand to stay and watch as his former friends turned into enemies. He wouldn't be able to stand it if they turned into people who were only kind to him because of manners in respect to the friendship they used to share.

Standing up gingerly, so as not to reopen his wounds, he began hobbling to the door. His wounds stung and ached, and he felt as if he had a weight on his chest. He still felt nauseated, his head still pounded, and he could hear the blood rushing in his ears. All of that coupled with the fact that he really didn't want to leave made the trip to the door that much harder.

Halfway to the door he realized that the shorts and T-shirt he was in were not his own. He could feel his cheeks begin to warm, and he knew he was blushing, as he realized that someone must have changed him out of his clothes. 'They must have seen the blood even with the dark clothes I had on earlier. Why else would they have undressed me if they didn't have a reason to?' Rei thought to himself. The thought of someone undressing him while he was unconscious made a chill go down his spine, his muscles tightening, causing pain to shoot throughout his body from his constricted wounds. Biting back the small cry of surprise and pain that threatened to slip past his lips, he scolded himself. 'None of them would do to me what my father did. They're not like that. How could you even think like that, Kon?' Realizing that he was allowing every emotion he felt to pass across his face, he growled in frustration, the last expression showing on his face being obvious aggravation at himself, before his face went completely blank once more.

Walking over to Kai's dresser, he decided to borrow some clothes. He had no idea where his were and he didn't have the energy to search for them. The others probably threw them out anyway, what with all the blood on them. Pulling the drawer open he rummaged through the clothes, trying to find something suitable for him to wear. Nothing that he saw would fit him, Kai was taller than him, but he had no choice. Tyson had no fashion sense, Max's colors were way too…out there for him, and Chief was too short for Rei to be able to fit into his clothes. Besides, if the clothing was a little baggy, he wouldn't have to worry about them rubbing on his wounds and causing them to burn.

Picking out a dark long-sleeved shirt and dark pants that would obviously fall off his butt (not that he had much of a choice), he slipped out of the clothes he was currently wearing, noting that they, too, were Kai's, and pulled on the clean clothes as fast as he could without jarring his wounds too much. He was still a little jumpy from being around his father and being undressed while he was unconscious, and didn't think he could handle someone walking in on him while he changed; he would probably lose it and lash out at the nearest living creature. With his luck, it would be Kai or someone frail like poor Chief.

As Rei was about to close the drawer, something caught his eye. There was something in the back of Kai's drawer in the left-hand corner, buried under some of his clothes. It was some kind of metal object and was obviously meant to stay hidden for some reason and Rei debated on whether or not he should just leave it alone or take it out and see what it was. His conscious said 'no, it was obviously there for a reason and he shouldn't mess with it,' but his curiosity made him want to look anyway. Curiosity killed the cat as they say, but Rei had never liked that saying. It always ended in stereotyping when it came to him since he was a neko-jin. Just because he had cat-like features, didn't mean he was a cat.

Ignoring the stabbing guilt in his stomach, Rei reached in and pulled out the object of his curiosity and gasped; it was his beyblade. Emotions flooded into him, questions following closely behind. He was torn and didn't know what to think. Why had Kai kept his blade for two whole years? How did he even know if he would ever see Rei again? Or did he just keep it because…why would he keep it? He didn't understand anything that Kai did. He began feeling hope; hope that he didn't want to feel. His heart said that Kai may just have feelings for him as well, but his mind said that the notion was impossible. Kai wasn't gay, and if he were, why would he have even the _slightest_ feelings for Rei? Maybe Kai could have had feelings for Rei before, which Rei felt was a slim to none chance, but why would he feel anything for him now? Maybe he put the blade in there to hold onto it for Rei, thinking that he would be back. And when he didn't come back, he forgot about it. Yeah, that must be it. Kai wouldn't have held onto it otherwise. That was the obvious answer.

Despite his silent agreement with himself, he still subconsciously held onto the small hope that Kai actually had _some_ feelings for him, even if they were just remnants of what they were before he left. Even feelings of affection given by a best friend or brother would be better than nothing.

Not wanting to put off the inevitable, Rei closed Kai's dresser drawer, beyblade still in hand, and slowly walked out of the room. He knew that no one was home; he had heard them all leave and knew that they still hadn't come back yet. Walking to the door leading into the apartment room (2) Rei slipped on his shoes and left. It was fairly warm out so he didn't even think to bring anything but the clothes he was wearing and the bandanna that was still snugly fit on his head where it always was. He didn't want to take any more of Kai's belongings than he had to, anyway. He did wish that he still had his hoodie though, so he could hide all the bruises on his face and neck.

…

**_Out of the shadows across the street from a ritzy apartment complex someone watched and waited. Seeing the person he had been waiting for walk out of the building slowly, the figure's whole body shook in anticipation of what was to come, both with glee and remorse. The voice laughed quietly and thought to himself: 'I found you!' The dark figure then stalked off into the night, following his "prey" just close enough so as not to be discovered, and waited for his chance to capture the being…_**

…

Kai walked out of the store behind the other Bladebreakers knowing that his mood was definitely a little brighter than it had been. The little girl named Kira had talked his head off along with the rest of his team when they had been looking for him and found him holding the child. She had been so excited that all of the Bladebreakers had been there, all except for Rei. She had asked many questions about him, ones that neither he, nor the others, felt like answering. Luckily, she had fired off so many questions at one time that they could pick and choose which ones they wanted to answer and still satisfy her curiosity.

Rounding a corner (they decided to walk), Kai listened in on Max and Tyson's conversation so he wouldn't have to allow his mind to revert back to thinking about what painful things he could do to Rei's father; for now at least. He would definitely elaborate more on that topic later. Turning his attention back to the two lovers' conversation, he had only one thought: it was so pointless and annoying that it made him want to gag.

"Absolutely not!" Max said firmly.

"Aw, come on Max, what if I say I love you and I'll marry you when we turn eighteen?" Tyson was saying, quite loudly. So loudly in fact, that passers-by were staring at the couple and Kai unconsciously distanced himself from them so it looked like he didn't know them.

"I said no, Tyson. I do not want to watch a scary movie. I hate them; they give me nightmares. And remember the last time we watched a horror movie? You were so scared that you had to run to the bathroom so you wouldn't wet your pants…and you took me with you because you were too scared to go by yourself!" The blonde boy said to his overly loud and obnoxious lover.

Apparently Kenny had had enough of the two quarreling because he changed the subject, much to Kai's relief. It was short-lived though as the topic that had been on all of their minds, whether they voiced it aloud or not, came up. "How are we going to help Rei?" he asked quietly. Everyone stopped walking and turned to Kenny. None of them had an answer to that.

The silence around the four boys was deafening; none of them spoke. All of them were thinking about what Rei had told them only a short time earlier that day. With no ideas, the boys began to walk back towards the flat they shared but stopped in shock at who they saw.

_**Hee hee! Did you guess who that is? If you guess right I'll give you a cookie! *winks* Well, it's not exactly hard to figure out, though. Or is it? *eyes gleam evilly* Yes, it is. Until next time! Oh, and when I went back and re-read my chapters, I realized I didn't have a description for my other main character! *gasps in horror* So I decided to add that in this chapter! I hope it wasn't too obvious that I was trying to cram it in there…**_

**(1) A/N: Kai and the others still blade, just not professionally, like in tournaments. They quit after Rei left; they didn't feel that it would be the same and they couldn't find another member that lived up to their expectations after Rei. Sorry I didn't put that in there earlier!**

**(2) A/N: What would you consider a flat? Would it be an apartment? A large one, that is…? idk that's why I'm asking you…sorry for my uninformed style of writing…*anime sweatdrop***


	7. Chapter 7

**_Author's note: _Um…yeah. Nothing to say, really, except "Sorry for the wait! Stupid computer!"**

**_Disclaimer: _I own nothing from Beyblade!**

**Chapter Seven**

"Tala?" Tyson exclaimed in disbelief. "And Bryan?" The Bladebreaker gang stared at the two Demolition Boys in utter shock. One question was running through each of their minds: what were they doing here?

Tala stood there with a wolfish grin on his face, one that only grew larger after seeing the comical looks on the faces of the blonde and the brunette haired boys. The navy haired boy and Kai were just staring at them, slight curiosity showing on the young navy boy's face, while the two-toned haired boy's face remained carefully blank. Walking up to Kai, Tala patted him on the back. "Long time no see, fellows!"

"Hn." Kai said and continued walking back towards their flat, the others trailing not far behind him, still carrying the groceries they had picked up from the store.

"Heh! Still as unsociable as ever I see!"

Kai just glared at him, making the redheaded boy laugh. "What are you doing here, Tala?" Kai bit out, some of the irritability he was feeling dripping from his voice. He wasn't expecting his friends and former teammates to show up out of the blue, especially now, when he was so preoccupied with trying to figure out how to help Rei, and he didn't know if he could deal with Tala's prankster attitude at the moment.

Tala pretended to be hurt by that question and asked, "What? We're not allowed to be here? We were invited to the reunion too, you know. It's not like you're the only special ones to be invited!"

'He better shut up before I deck him. He knows that's not what I meant!' Aloud, he said: "You know what I mean: why are you here? Why aren't you at the reunion?" he asked, glaring at Tala as if daring him to make another smart comment and pretend, again, that he didn't know what Kai was talking about.

"Well— "

"Mr. Dickenson saw you guys rush out of the place carrying someone. He said he didn't recognize the boy that you were carrying. Who was he?" Bryan cut Tala off, knowing that his koi was going to say something stupid again, and deciding to save him from a possible punch to the face by a very pissed off looking Kai. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Tala was pouting. Leaning over, he whispered into the boy's ear. "You look hot when you pout, did you know that?" The comment made Tala blush a dark crimson. Kai raised an eyebrow at the blush on Tala's cheeks and the smirk on Bryan's face, but said nothing about it.

Kai hesitated a moment, not sure if he should tell them that the mystery person they were wondering about was Rei, but decided that he should tell them. Maybe they could help come up with some ideas on how to help. He sighed and ran a hand through his unruly blunette hair and then looked at the two young Russians waiting anxiously before him. "It was Rei. He's hurt. Pretty badly."

Tala gasped while Bryan's eyes took on a glint of interest, and the Bladebreakers looked a little shocked that Kai had willingly given up information about Rei. Information that was not his to give in the first place and certainly not information that they expected Kai to give about the person he loved. "He told us," Kai continued, "that it was his father that did it to him. He was reluctant to tell us anything for some reason…" Kai trailed off. He still didn't understand why the neko-jin didn't appear to trust them. To trust _him._ It hurt him to think that Rei thought him unworthy of his trust, and a sharp, stabbing pain went through his chest, restricting his breathing and causing him to stop in his tracks. The others stopped as well.

"Kai?" Max asked inquisitively. "Hey, are you okay? You look sick."

Kai looked at Max and took in a few deep, slow breaths and continued walking before replying. "I'm fine. I just can't figure out why Rei would keep this from us."

Max, if the blank look on his face was anything to go by, could not think of any reason why Rei would be so secretive, either. Looking at Tyson to see if maybe he had an answer, the tournament champ only shook his head at the silent question. "Hmm…" Everyone turned to Kenny when they heard the thoughtful sound leave the boy. Seeing that he had everyone's undivided attention, even if by accident, he spoke. "I think—this is just a guess, but—I think Rei was trying to protect us."

"What would he need to protect you guys from?" Tala asked, unable to keep quiet for even two minutes, and also curious as to why the frail, innocent looking kitty would feel the need to protect his friends.

"Well…I'm just guessing again, but I think that his father may have threatened to do something to us if he didn't cooperate." Kenny looked at everyone and, seeing no opposition to his theory, he continued. "Why else would he have gone back to his father? He could have run away if he wanted to. Rei's smart, he could have managed on his own. The only thing I can think of to explain why he went back to such a terrible person would be because something would happen to us if he didn't. Or at least that's what he believed. His father might not actually do anything to us, just threaten to."

"His father seems like a pretty crazy bastard; I wouldn't put it past him to try and do us in to get what he wants. In this case, Rei." Tyson added.

"Wait—I'm confused. All we know is that his father hurt him somehow. What did he do? We can't help you out unless we know the whole story." Tala stated.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Kenny said, and filled Tala and Bryan in on what Rei had told them. By the time Kenny was finished, Tala was gaping like a fish and Bryan had a bone chilling look on his face that could send shivers down even a psycho serial killer's back.

"Well. That was unexpected. How could he do that to my kitty?" At hearing Tala call Rei 'my kitty,' a strong feeling of possessiveness washed over him and he turned around and scowled at Tala. Seeing his scowl, Tala gave him an innocent smile. 'Well, well, well,' he thought, 'so our former ice captain still has feelings for the kitty. Heh. This'll be fun.' He then sent a small wave and a sweet smile in Kai's direction, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. This effectively earned him a look from Bryan that said 'what are you up to now?' and a look from Kai that said 'try something and you die.' Kai then turned around, leaving Tala to chuckle in amusement behind him at the looks he was getting from his lover and his longtime friend. Saying nothing more, he followed next to Bryan behind Kai while quietly humming to himself in anticipation for what was to come. He spent the rest of the walk back to the large apartment complex plotting up ways to get his kitty and the phoenix together.

Everyone chattered quietly as they walked, thinking of ways to free Rei from his father, and protect him from future attacks from him. When they arrived at the flat, they had thought up several ways to help the neko-jin, but when they entered the room, any ideas they had come up with for helping Rei were completely banished from their minds: Rei was nowhere to be found…

…

Rei sat in the alley, thinking on how he got in this position. It had happened after he had left the building where his friends were staying…

…

_**Rei walked down the street, his arms wrapped around his body. It wasn't as if he were cold, he just couldn't shake the feeling that someone had been watching him since he left the flat, and it sent chills down his spine. Deciding that it was just his imagination, and he was just paranoid after talking about his past, and now present, he continued walking aimlessly, not knowing exactly where he was going to go. He had decided that he wasn't going back to his father. Surely Yuji Kon wouldn't attack his friends, would he? Rei had thought about it long and hard, and he came to the conclusion that his father really didn't want to hurt anyone other than Rei himself. Rei was the one who had killed Yuji's precious family, so he should be the one who receives his father's wrath.**_

_**Rounding a corner into an alley, he realized he hadn't been the only one to take this route. Someone had followed him in. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he realized that the instinctive feeling he had had about someone following hadn't been paranoia, but a premonition in a way. **_

_**Turning around to face his stalker, his body went cold and his face drained of all color. Standing before him was his father. How he had found him, he didn't know; his father hadn't been at the reunion so he couldn't have followed him that way. **_

'_**Shit.' Rei thought. 'Just as I decide to do something to help myself, I end up right back where I started.' Rei closed his eyes, awaiting the blow that he knew was going to come. Sure enough, moments after his eyes were closed, he was struck across the face and thrown backwards against the alley wall with the force of it. Stone crumbled behind his back as he collided with the wall. Neko-jins were stronger than humans, and therefore, that hit had only been the beginning of a series of powerful blows that were yet to be dealt.**_

_**For what seemed like forever to Rei, blows rained down on him, adding bruises and cuts to an already battered body. His chest ached, and he made a silent note to himself that he had a few broken ribs. His head was bleeding from being bashed against the wall so many times and he knew he probably had a concussion. His whole body hurt; he had never felt pain like this before. His father was pissed, probably because he knew that his son had almost run away. Again.**_

_**The assault on him by his father lasted so long that he didn't even remember when his body went numb. Not long after that, the world went black…**_

…

He had woken up about two minutes ago, and was staring up at the culprit of his aching body. Judging by the injuries that he didn't remember getting before he passed out, he guessed that his father had continued taking out his frustrations on Rei's helpless body even after he was unconscious. 'Bastard!' he thought venomously. 'Taking advantage of me when I can't even defend myself!'

"Thought you could get away, huh?" Rei stared at his father, noting the strange gleam in his eyes. 'Oh god, no.' he thought. 'He's gone completely insane!' Dread filled him as he realized that his father would probably kill him this time. Normally he would be happy to accept death, but he had just made a decision on how to live his life! He would get a job, find himself someone to love other than Kai, settle down, and lay low so his father wouldn't find him. Maybe check in on his friends every once in a while (without their knowledge of course) to make sure they were okay and unharmed. None of his new plans, made completely on his own, not influenced by his father in any way, included dying in some dark, secluded alley! Oh, hell no!

"Unfortunately, yes, but it didn't work." Rei ground out through gritted teeth.

"Haha! Of course not! What do you take me for, a fool?" His father cackled menacingly. "Now get up! We're going home."

"No. I'm making my own decisions from now on! I will not listen to you anymore!" Rei exclaimed, getting shakily to his feet. His wounds were painful and made it hard to keep his balance, but he refused to just give up and let his father run his life again. He wouldn't go back to his friends; they probably wouldn't want a used piece of trash like him around anyway. He would go somewhere where no one knew him, where he could start over in life! His father would not ruin his life any longer!

His father, outraged, lunged forward with a cry of fury and threw himself on his son, knocking them both to the ground, and tearing into Rei furiously. "You…will…die!" he ground out after each punch to the face. Twisting out from under his father, Rei brought his foot backwards and slammed it into Yuji's chest, a sickening crack sounding. Two of his ribs had been broken and blood began to drip from his mouth. "Bastard!" Yuji cried in rage and pain, launching himself up off the ground and towards Rei. Predicting his movement, Rei smoothly dodged out of the way and brought his arm up and then back down onto the back of his father's neck, effectively knocking him off balance and dropping him to the ground. Yuji grunted as he hit the ground full force.

"Now leave me alone! I'm not the weak little boy that I used to be! I won't tolerate this anymore! Just leave. Please!" Rei pleaded with his father. Silence followed his pleading and Rei turned gently around, the stiffness in his body slowing him.

"Damn!" His father exclaimed quietly behind him. Rei could hear the frustration in his voice. 'Please, please just leave me alone!' he begged silently. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw that his father wasn't making any move towards him, not that he could move anyway. His ribs were broken and he was probably numb, and would be for a little while, from the blow to his neck. Sighing, Rei began walking gingerly back to the main street outside of the alley. 'Finally. I'm free.' Smiling slightly, Rei stepped out onto the road before him and turned left and started walking. To where, he didn't know. He didn't get very far before he stopped dead in his tracks, a gasp escaping his lips.

"Rei!"

'Shit! What the hell are they doing here?' Turning, he planned on running, but his knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground. 'Damnit! Why do I have to feel the extent of my injuries now?' he berated his traitorous body.

"Rei!" The voice again reached his ears. Hearing the running feet approach him, he looked up into the faces of his friends…and Tala and Bryan!

"Wha— " he started, but was cut off by a barrage of voices, all of them asking what happened, was he all right, where was his father, and so forth. Looking to Kai, he saw the same worry mirrored in his eyes that was in Tyson, Kenny, Max, Tala, and even Bryan's eyes. Getting to his feet, he started inching slowly backwards, planning on running as soon as his legs were steady enough to support him.

'Now! Now's my chance! Those fools aren't even paying attention! I'll kill Rei's friends right in front of him, then I'll send him to hell as well!' Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a blade. Calling upon all of his remaining strength, he surged forward, blade held outstretched in his hand, an ear shattering war cry escaping from his lips as he attacked.

"AAAAAH!" Rei's father screamed as he lunged at Kai from behind. Rei's heart jumped to his throat as he realized who he was trying to kill, and what his plan was. The others were too stunned to react to the man racing towards them and only turned around to face him.

"MOVE! KAI!" Rei screamed as he raced forward to protect his friends, but his father was closer to them than he was and coming at a diagonal as well. 'I'm not going to make it! I can't reach my father in time! Please, no!' Focusing all his remaining strength into his legs, he flung himself forward in a desperate attempt to make it to his friends before his Yuji did.

Yuji smiled maniacally as his blade imbedded itself in the flesh of a human's stomach, satisfaction filling him. 'At least someone's going with me!' he thought happily to himself before someone landed a sharp blow to his head, instantly knocking him unconscious to fall to the ground, completely unnoticed by anyone.

"NOOO!" a scream sounded from somewhere as the victim's lifeless body fell in a heap on the ground…

**_Author's note:_ HAHAHA! Aren't I so evil? *grins* Who got stabbed? Did Rei make it in time to save the one he loves? Or was Kai the one to receive the blow? Maybe neither one of them? Who died, if anyone? Haha! You'll have to wait and see in the last chapter of Sinister Love! *sniff* Yes, it is coming to an end. So sad…Well, until next time then! *waves***


	8. Chapter 8

**_Author's note: *_sigh* Well, the last chapter. So sad…**

**_Disclaimer: _I don't own Beyblade.**

**Chapter Eight**

Blood spread out around the boy's still figure, covering his clothes and body in the crimson liquid. Voices called out to him as he lay on the ground, but it was getting harder and harder to hear them and distinguish whose voice was whose. The voices started out being loud, but now they were quieter than a whisper; they sounded muffled, like something was covering his ears, blocking out the sounds that threatened to wake him from his impending slumber.

"REI! Don't do this to me! Don't you die!" Kai screamed at the slowly fading boy cradled in his arms. Rei's face was paling with each passing second, and his body was turning a light shade of blue, skin cool to the touch and getting colder with time. His life's blood continued to flow out of him as Kai tried desperately to stop the stream of liquid. His own body and clothes were soaked with the blood of his loved one, and a sickening feeling of dread was starting to work it's way into his whole being. "Damnit! He was going for me! Why did you jump in front of the blade like that? You idiot!"

Max stood crying beside the pair on the ground, gently shaking Rei's shoulder as if that would wake him. "Rei?" he called out weakly. 'No. Rei, wake up. Please! You can't die on us!' he cried silently. The tears streamed freely down his face and a choked sob racked his body as he ran into Tyson's embrace, just behind Kai and Rei. "Tyson! Make him wake up! Do something!" he sobbed hysterically while Tyson just shushed him.

"Maxie, I can't do anything for him. I don't know what to do! I'm so sorry!" With that, Tyson broke out in tears as well, and the two held onto each other, both seeking the comfort of the other's embrace.

"Call 911 someone!" Kenny screamed out to passers-by, his face having a tortured look to it. His eyes burned with unshed tears. "Please!" he pleaded with anyone who would listen.

Tala and Bryan stood near Rei's father who was still lying on the ground, unconscious, in case he should wake up. They wouldn't let him get anywhere near the others again.

Rei coughed and everyone looked at the frail looking neko-jin. Fear gripped their hearts at the sight. He was pale, almost like a ghost, and blood covered his body as well as Kai's. A puddle of crimson blood was spreading rapidly around him, and when he coughed, blood streamed from his mouth, a sign of internal bleeding. If Rei didn't get help soon, he would surely die.

Kai felt as if his heart was going to burst from his chest, it was beating so rapidly. He was scared. _Terrified!_ What if Rei died? The sick taste of bile rose in his throat at the thought of Rei dying. 'That's not going to happen!' he thought fiercely. Looking down on Rei, he could see the neko-jin's breathing slow down and shallow out. He was having trouble getting air into his lungs. Whether it was from the internal bleeding, the amount of blood loss, or because of his life rapidly slipping away, he didn't know. Panicking, he began pleading with Rei to wake up, to come back to them, to _him._ But all to no avail; the boy simply wouldn't open his eyes. At the back of his mind, he registered the sound of sirens approaching. 'Someone must have called 911 like Kenny asked,' he thought, hope stirring in his chest.

Giving the injured boy a gentle shake, he spoke softly to him, trying to comfort him and get him to hold on a little longer until the ambulance came. "Rei. Rei, hold on just a little bit. Help is coming, just hold on," he spoke softly.

'What?' The boy thought. He thought he heard someone talking to him. Someone familiar. "Rei, stay with me, okay? Help is coming." The voice said. 'Kai?' Was Kai talking to him? Telling him to hold on? Yeah, Kai was telling him that help was coming. 'Sorry Kai, I'm tired, so tired. And my body hurts. Just let me sleep and everything will be fine.' He thought, slipping deeper into the welcoming darkness, letting it envelop him in its sweet nothingness, until the voices could no longer be heard. His body went numb, and he could feel nothing, see nothing. His awareness of everything around him faded until there was nothing left. The last thing he was aware of was something wet as it dripped on his face, something like a tear. 'Why is Kai crying?' he thought before he succumbed to the darkness.

"REI!" a scream rang out, just before the ambulance arrived.

_**Two weeks later**_

Kai stood directly in front of the gravestone in the local cemetery after the funeral procession. Tyson and Max stood to his left, holding hands, while Kenny sat on the ground close by, Dizzi in hand. Tala and Bryan stood to his right, a little closer than necessary. Kai gave a wry smile at the two. 'So my hunch was correct; they are together.' Focusing back on the gravestone, he read the name:

R.I.P

_Kon_

Kai shuddered involuntarily at the sight, a single tear falling quietly down his cheek as he remembered the events of what happened after the ambulance had arrived.

The ambulance pulled up and two men in their mid-thirties or so ran up with a stretcher and loaded Rei's lifeless body onto it and into the back of the ambulance. Rei's breathing and heart had stopped, and they began performing CPR, and applying electric shock. It wasn't working. He had lost so much blood! Kai saw them hook up some blood transfusion bags to Rei before they closed the doors and drove off. There wasn't enough room for someone to ride to the hospital in the ambulance with Rei; the emergency officials would need the room to work on Rei.

A woman who had witnessed the whole thing was kind enough to give the Bladebreakers and the Demolition Boys a ride to the hospital in their van, and when they got there, Rei was already in OR. During the ride to the hospital, they were able to get Rei's heart to beat, and they hooked him up to oxygen to allow him to breathe. It was only a temporary fix, though, they had said. He was very weak, and wouldn't hold on for very long. They were even doubtful that he would make it through surgery, but they would do their best, they assured.

_**Two hours later, a doctor walked sullenly out of the OR. Everyone stood, waiting for the news on Rei. The doctor shook his head sadly before speaking. "He made it through surgery," he said, "but he is in a coma. The blade pierced his liver and did severe damage to his body internally. It would be a miracle if he survived this." The doctor looked down at the ground before sighing and looking back up at the teenagers standing before him, taking turns looking each of them in the eyes. "I'm sorry to say this, but don't get your hopes up. Through my experience as a doctor, there is almost no chance that he will survive through the night. I'm sorry."**_

"KAI!" Kai's head snapped up when someone screamed his name from right beside him. Turning to glare at the one who did it, he ground out a quick and furious 'What!' "I said, 'shouldn't we get going?'" Tala repeated, and then he smiled. "We don't want to keep our kitty waiting. You're going to tell him that you love him today, right?"

A small blush appeared on Kai's face and he turned away from the others, hoping that they hadn't seen it, before giving a gruff 'Yeah.'

"'Atta boy!" Tala cheered, and then he continued on a more serious note. "You almost lost your chance once, Kai, so don't put it off anymore."

A far away look appeared on Kai's face for a moment as he thought about how close they had all come to losing Rei. It was a good thing he was a neko-jin, or he would have died. The doctors at the hospital had never encountered a neko-jin before, and therefore had no idea what their healing capabilities were. "Yeah. I know," he replied softly.

As the six boys walked back to the limo they had taken (courtesy of Kai), Kai thought back to what all had transpired to lead up to where they were at now.

Rei hadn't woken up yet, even now he was still in a coma, but his body was slowly healing and getting stronger. While he was in the OR, his father had been arrested and later hospitalized in a mental institution. Not too long after that, he had died. The autopsy had showed that Yuji Kon had had a brain tumor that had slowly grown due to stress and shock after his wife and son died. The drinking hadn't helped matters. So it wasn't completely his fault that he did those things to his son, he couldn't help it. The tumor messed with his head and made him crazy. The blow that was dealt to the back of his head, delivered by none other than Kai, had ruptured the tumor, allowing blood to flow freely from it and into the brain, killing him. Kai felt a little guilty about that, but the specialist who had performed the autopsy had said that it wasn't his fault at all. Apparently the tumor was like a ticking time bomb and would have killed him in the same way later on; there was nothing they could have done for him, even if they had known about it.

The funeral that he and the others had just attended was for Yuji Kon, since Rei couldn't be there. They all knew that he would have liked to have been there, but they had held back the funeral as long as possible, hoping that Rei would wake up and be able to attend. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

The limo pulled up to the hospital that Rei was staying at, and everyone filed out and headed towards the sliding doors. They walked inside, and Tyson pressed the button for the elevator. All of them clambered inside and someone hit the button for the 12th floor. Once the elevator stopped, they walked out and down the hall a ways, to room 603.

Inside, a pleasant surprise was waiting for them: Rei was off the oxygen, sitting up in bed, conscious. Hearing them walk in, he turned to them and gave them a weak, slightly tired smile. "Rei!" Tyson exclaimed and all of them beamed and ran over to him, each of them giving him a gentle hug. All but Kai, that is. He stood back, slight shock and relief showing on his face, a small, yet still warm, smile tugged at his lips as he looked at the youth.

"Kai." Rei said. He sounded tired. But tired was good. Tired meant that he was alive! Grinning from ear to ear and not caring that he probably looked like an idiot, he walked over to Rei in three long strides and hugged him as well, whispering in his ear a 'Welcome back.'

Rei stared at Kai dumbly as he stepped back, not knowing what to make of a smiling Kai, but liking it none-the-less.

Then, Kai whispered something to Tala, unnoticed by everyone except Rei and Bryan. Tala nodded at whatever Kai had said, smiled, and then exclaimed, "Hey, let's go get some food and we can eat with Rei like old times!" This was followed by three happy shouts of 'Yeah!' by Max, Tyson, and Kenny. They then bounded out of the room, telling Rei that they'd be back soon, and Bryan followed behind them, Tala filing out last, sending a knowing glance in Kai's direction as he went out the door, puzzling Rei.

Kai walked towards Rei's bed, stalling for a little time so he could think of the right words, taking deep, calming breaths as he went. Arriving beside the bed, he sat down gently, so he wouldn't jar any of Rei's wounds, and turned to look into beautiful amber eyes that held a quizzical look in their depths. Sighing, Kai decided he should start with the news about Yuji first. "Rei, I don't know how to say this, but…your father— "

"He's dead, right?" Rei cut Kai off. Kai gave him a startled look and before he could ask how he knew, Rei answered. "The cops had to question me about my childhood and they told me about it and about the funeral. Thanks for going for me, by the way." At the inquisitive look on Kai's face as if to say 'How did you know that we went?' Rei laughed, causing a light feeling to fill Kai's chest. "The nurse heard you guys talking about it this morning and she told me about it when she was checking up on me earlier. She also said that you guys postponed the funeral for as long as you could in case I woke up and could go." Rei smiled. "Thank you, Kai," he said.

"You're welcome." Kai said. Attempting to pluck up enough courage to tell Rei how he felt about him, he looked down at his lap, cleared his throat, and then took a deep breath. "Rei," he began, but stopped. 'Damnit! What if he doesn't feel the same way? What if he never talks to me again? Argh! This is so frustrating!' he thought furiously to himself.

Rei could see the turmoil on Kai's face and wondered what could possibly be troubling the one he loved. "Kai?" He asked hesitantly.

Kai looked up into the most beautiful face he had ever seen. He didn't know what he would do if Rei never talked to him again. Maybe he should just forget about the whole idea. Just as that thought came to mind, he remembered Tala's words from before: _You almost lost your chance once, Kai, so don't put it off anymore. _Taking a deep breath, he locked eyes with the neko-jin. "Rei, I…" Kai paused, and swallowed, but continued, "I love you," he said quietly, and Rei almost thought that he was hearing things. If he hadn't been looking at Kai and he hadn't been able to read the words off his lips, he would have thought that he was hearing things. But he wasn't.

"I-I—what?" he asked disbelievingly, not trusting that this was reality and not just a dream.

Taking another deep breath, he said a little louder, "I love you, Rei." Rei's face was completely blank, and Kai began to get nervous. "I-when you almost died, I thought…I don't know what I thought. I went numb. I just…I don't know what I would do without you, Rei and…I understand if you don't feel comfortable being around me now but I thought I'd just get that off my chest. It was killing me to see you in so much pain!" He knew he was rambling now and pouring out his heart, but now that the wall on his heart had been weathered, the rest just came crumbling down. "I was going to tell you two years ago, I was waiting for the right chance, but…you left. I didn't know what to do and…" he trailed off. 'Why isn't he saying anything?'

Kai had been looking at his hands the whole time and when he looked up, he felt as if his heart was going to jump out of his throat: Rei was crying. Tears were falling steadily down his face and falling onto his lap. But something was off; he was smiling. "Rei?" He asked cautiously.

"I love you, too." He said softly. Kai's eyes widened slightly in surprise at the declaration, but the surprise was soon replaced with a smile and a look of pure happiness and affection. Leaning in slightly, he placed a small, warm kiss on the neko-jin's soft and pliant lips. Rei leaned into the kiss before Kai broke it when he heard the door open.

"Well, you're finally up, Rei." A young nurse said. "I have your medication for you and—oh dear! Why are you crying? Are you in pain? I'll get the doctor!"

"Ah, wait!" Rei exclaimed as she turned to head for the door. "I'm not in pain, I just…I'm fine." He said, smiling. "Just happy is all," he said.

"Oh," she said, "all right, then, I'll leave these here for you then." She said, before setting down the pills on the bedside table for Rei to take, and walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

An awkward silence descended on Kai and Rei before they both smiled at each other and laughed slightly, happy that their feelings were now in the open.

"So," Rei said, "I've been wondering…how did you find me? At the alley I mean. I could have been anywhere." He asked, truly baffled that they had found him in that huge city.

"The bellhop that was working the door saw where you had went. He told us that you had gone left down the street a little ways, then disappeared. He said that he guessed you had turned into an alley for you to have disappeared so fast. So when we were walking down the street checking alleys, we saw you walk out of that one."

"Oh, that makes sense." Rei laughed. "I thought you guys were psychic or something!" He said, chuckling.

"No, not quite." Kai said with a small smile. The smile faded away before he asked, "So now what? You aren't going to leave again are you? You have no reason to now, and…I don't want to lose you." He finished quietly.

Rei smiled softly at Kai and shook his head lightly. "No, I'm staying with you." He said.

Kai smiled and hugged Rei, planting a light kiss on the top of his head before releasing him. "Well we'll have to get your room ready for when we get back to the flat. You'll be out of here in no time," he said.

Two days later

Rei walked up to the door to the flat gingerly, holding Kai's arm for support. He was finally released from the hospital, but was on strict bed rest for at least another week. He could walk around a little bit, but he wasn't allowed to stay on his feet for more than ten minutes, and he wasn't to walk around when no one was home with him, in case he should fall. Reaching the door, Kai gave Rei a small kiss on the lips before he turned the handle and swung the door open.

"WELCOME HOME!" a large crowd screamed as Rei walked in the door and Rei gaped at the sight before him. All of the teams from the Beyblade reunion were crammed into the flat that the Bladebreakers shared, and all of them had been waiting for Rei to get back. Everyone stood smiling at the shocked look on Rei's face, and Rei looked up at Kai. Judging by his reaction, he had no idea that this was going to happen.

Just then, Tyson, Kenny, and Max all walked up to Rei, big goofy grins plastered on each of their faces. "Surprised?" Tyson asked. At the nod from Rei, everyone laughed.

After Rei talked to people for a little while, catching up with all of them and finding out what had been going on in his absence, he sat down in the vacant seat on the couch next to Kai and smiled up at him. "Glad you're back?" Kai asked. Rei only nodded and drifted off to sleep peacefully, his head resting on Kai's shoulder. For the first time in years, he slept without nightmares plaguing his dreams, while people around him danced and partied the night away. All but Kai, who held him tightly and slept beside him, never once letting go of his kitten.

END

_**Author's note: **_**Well, how was it? Did it end all right? Was there too much fluff? Were the characters a little OOC? How many of you thought that I had actually killed Rei? ^ ^ I would never do that! Well, please review! How will I get better if I don't know what my readers think?**


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